A masterpiece of Sci-Fi Cinema, Close Encounters is counted as one of the best movies ever made.

Great acting, direction and effects that where groundbreaking for their time, a story that’s great for any age and definitely a must see for any fan of cinema. This is Spielberg at his prime.

All of the ships and planes that turn up, as returned by the aliens, are actual cases of missing crafts…

U.S. Navy Flight 19, disappeared off Fort Lauderdale, Fla in December 1945.

The Cotopaxi, is an actual tramp steamer that went down in the Bermuda Triangle in December of 1925

Behind the scenes facts:

The scene in which Barry (Cary Guffey) looks around the kitchen, at figures off camera, was actually meant to make him scream. They had a man in a gorilla suit wave at him, then take the costume head off.. Cary found this funny, and they kept it in.

When the Mothership begins to rise over Devil’s Tower, you can see a model of “R2D2” (from Star Wars), upside-down on the first tier.

The filming was done under utmost secrecy to keep the element of surprise until it finally became ready for release and also to prevent anyone ripping off the idea and making some quick knockoff of it. Security at the Mobile hangar was so tight that evenSteven Spielberg was denied entrance one day when he forgot his ID card.